BOISE, Idaho — Childcare is one of the biggest expenses for parents – a necessity that costs many families more and more every year.
Marina Ebrahimpour is a mom of three. Not only are Ebrahimpour and her husband trying to find affordable childcare, they are also trying to find quality childcare.
Effective Sept. 6, Kristi Meston has taken on the role of Project Manager for the newly formed Collaborative for Early Learning. Kristi, who has made Teton Valley her home for 20 years, has devoted her career to working with children and families. After many years of working both in traditional wilderness programs and wilderness therapy, as well as with children with emotional and developmental disabilities in schools and youth homes, she obtained a Master of Social Work in order to formalize her ability to support her community.
Thanks to additional funding through the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare community grant program, $750,000 was recently donated to the 2C Kids Succeed Early Learning Collaborative.
A portion of the grant will go to helping the Nampa Early Childhood Learning Center as they serve 20 more children and hire a certified teacher, helping 2C Kids continue to build a healthy community for Canyon County children, according to a press release.
United Way fights for the health, education and financial stability of every person in every North Idaho community.
It does this by supporting and developing programs and services that address the community's most pressing needs.
As local businesses navigate inflation, supply chains and competitive hiring markets, they are looking for solutions to recruit and maintain a strong workforce.
The United Way of Southeastern Idaho has received $20,000 from the Idaho Future Fund in the Idaho Community Foundation for preschool scholarships for children in American Falls.
This funding will further the already under way efforts in American Falls to ensure that every child in American Falls will have the opportunity and access to high quality early learning programs that meet their family’s needs.
One of the many revelations for Americans during the pandemic was the role of child care in making the economy work.
To keep companies staffed and women in the workforce, child care programs need to be open and available, people realized. And more than that, they need to be accessible and affordable, too.
The deadline to apply for the first round of child care expansion grants from the Idaho Workforce Development Council is Aug. 1, and council Executive Director Wendi Secrist expects the $15 million in available funding this fiscal year to quickly disappear.
Beginning August 1, 2022, two thousand childcare providers and workers licensed in Boise will be eligible to apply for a one-time payment of $1,500. The Childcare Incentive Pay program accounts for $3 million of the $34 million in American Rescue Plan funding that is being directed into the community to serve Boiseans who have been hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. Applications are scheduled to be open August 1 – 31, and checks will be issued October through November.
In April of 2022, Building Blocks Early Learning Center owner Adrianna Green, who rents her facility on Little Avenue in Driggs, learned that the owner wanted to sell the property. She was told that the future owner would honor her lease, which expires at the end of the 2023 school year.
Wood River Women’s Foundation teams up with Idaho AEYC to Start the Wood River Early Learning Collaborative.
By Tony Tekaroniake Evans | Idaho Mountain Express
Charitable organizations are stepping up to fill a gap in education funding resulting from political wrangling over early-childhood education in Idaho.
